SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION
How do we leave less impact on the earth and continue to make innovative strives?
Going through this course and studio, I have been thinking a lot about how we as users and especially designers can make the least amount of impact possible. In mine and Lydia’s studio project, we have been looking into the permeability of different materials for reasons of water drainage and the look they give off. I think that it is important for us to understand the responsibility that we have as designers and we do have the ability to make these changes in our communities.
In our project, we are using a permeable parking lot because it leaves less impact than just asphalting the entire place as well as the ability to pull up the parking lot easily if necessary. I think that we can incorporate more materials that are renewable and less impactful into our designs as we move into our careers. An example of a kind of new material that could be used is hempcrete. Hempcrete is a renewable material that can be mixed with a concrete component and used for paving surfaces.
“... sustainable design is not always seen as representing design excellence or design innovation. This situation will continue to provoke skepticism and cause tension between those who promote disciplinary knowledge and those who push for sustainability, unless we are able to develop novel ways of design thinking that can contribute to both domains.” -Mostafavi
How can we merge the two, sustainability and innovation? I think that both are important, but I do believe that we can merge the two and create beautiful things and protect the impact put on our land. We as designers have the privilege to really be involved with making these types of things happen.
I think the difference between today and where we were even three years ago is that sustainable solutions are synonymous with design now. There's been a pressure to increase our "sustainability" profession-wide because of the impacts buildings have on the environment, but not only that, it affects our comfortability. Better air, more comfortable temperatures, lower energy bills, an air of superiority that your building is "sustainable" is what will drive innovation towards sustainability rather than sustainability growing on its own. It's a pessimistic view, but people aren't going to pay extra to save the planet unless they benefit from it.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the further and further we dig holes and get in situations environmentally, innovation will soon follow. People come up with great, new ideas everyday, but it is not until a situation arises that we act fast and turn around impactful ideas. We have the capability to great things right now, but no one wants to pay and invest in it.
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